Under an amendment proposed by Sen. John Thune, all states would be required to recognize concealed carry permits from all other states, including states that grant permits without regard to criminal records. | John Shinkle/POLITICO

Thune's pro-criminal gun amendment

Today Congress is slated to vote on a bill that would effectively nationalize permits for those who wish to carry concealed guns. However, those of us who support conceal and carry laws must be concerned that Congress would force states to take the least restrictive and weakest current state laws as the standard. As conservatives, we usually oppose nationalizing what is best left to the states.

Congress is considering gutting state laws from the back end. Under the amendment proposed by Sen. John Thune, all states would be required to recognize concealed carry permits from all other states, including states that grant permits without regard to criminal records. In Virginia, this would allow convicted criminals to carry weapons onto parks and playgrounds.

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The Thune amendment flies in the face of federalist principles by usurping state laws. For instance, in my home state of Virginia, we require individuals to complete firearm safety training and demonstrate proficiency with a handgun. We also prohibit those who have been convicted of certain serious misdemeanors (such as assault or stalking) from obtaining a permit, and we disqualify those who have been convicted of public drunkenness within the past three years or anyone convicted of drunk driving or who is a “habitual drunkard.” These are reasonable prohibitions.

Most states have adopted similar restrictions, but under the Thune amendment, potentially violent individuals could obtain permits in the several states that have virtually no standards for issuing concealed carry permits. As a result, they could come to Virginia and walk the streets —– and frequent public places — with concealed guns.

Both philosophically and practically speaking, this is bad public policy. It is a federal power grab that would gut state laws and put innocent lives at risk, including the lives of police officers.

Imagine you are an officer who sees a notorious criminal hanging out on the street corner carrying several guns, most likely waiting to make an illegal sale. Under existing law in Virginia and many other states, this person could be arrested on the spot; he would not be eligible for a concealed carry permit. It is likely he would go to prison.

But if the Thune amendment passes, that criminal will have absolutely no problem acquiring a concealed carry permit that would allow him to avoid arrest and continue selling guns illegally on the streets — guns that could be used in robberies, assaults and murders. In all likelihood, that criminal will not even have to travel out of state to get the permit. A black market for the permit will spring up, sure as day follows night.

Usurping states’ rights to set the lowest common denominator for standards for concealed carry permits is literally granting a license to kill. The Thune amendment would empower these criminals and endanger the rest of us.

I served in the U.S. House of Representatives for 14 years. I support reasonable conceal and carry legislation, and I often supported pro-gun legislation, including votes to prohibit lawsuits against gun manufacturers. But the Thune amendment is not pro-gun. It is pro-criminal. It does nothing to protect the rights of responsible gun-owning citizens — and members of both parties should join together to defeat it. That would be a victory for federalism, for common sense and for all law-abiding Americans.

Tom Davis, a Republican, is a former member of the United States House of Representatives, who represented Virginia’s 11th Congressional District from 1994 to 2008.